Coastal County Brewing Coming to Pensacola

New breweries have been popping up everywhere in Pensacola, and Coastal County Brewing aims to be an ambitious project. Beer will of course be the focus, however owner Fred Thibodeaux describes his brewery as a “community brewery” that will eventually include a small craft restaurant, a volley ball court, disc golf, an outdoor beer garden for music and entertainment, and a small dog park among its 2.5 acres.

Thibodeaux, originally from Gulf Breeze, is a production manager at Wicked Barley Brewing Co. and has also brewed at Gordon Biersch and Cigar City. Thibodeaux looks to use his years of experience to open a brewery in his home town; a family friendly entertainment destination.

Thibodeaux plans to concentrate on the brewpub concept rather than distribution. Coastal County will focus on beers u under 7% ABV, seasonal releases, growlers, and hopes to eventually provide cans using a mobile canning line. Along with beer Coastal County will eventually offer ciders and meads as well as hard seltzer, tea, and lemonade. Nitro cold brew coffee and expresso will also be available.

The restaurant will feature charcuterie and sandwiches to begin with before becoming a full service restaurant. The menu will include gluten free options as well as small plate vegetarian meals.

Thibodeaux, an avid fisherman and scuba diver, spent 3 years working through 70 or 80 ideas for a name for his brewery before eventually settling on Coastal County Brewing. Thibodeaux wanted something that would work with multiple locations and included a nod to water and county.

Be sure to check out Coastal County at tomorrows Emerald Coast Beer Fest. Coastal County will feature 4 core beers (2IPAs, a Brown Ale, and Blueberry beer), and will be set up as a Tiki Bar.

Name: Coastal County Brewing (planned opening December 2019)
Website: https://coastalcountybrewing.com
Location: 3041 East Olive Road, Pensacola, Florida 32514
Hours:Monday - Tuesday: Closed, Wednesday - Thursday: 4pm - 9pm Friday - Saturday: 12pm - 11pm Sunday: 12pm - 9pm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coastalcounty/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/coastalcountybc

Grand Opening of Grayton Beer

For those familiar with local craft beer scene in Northwest Florida, you know Grayton Beer Company out of Santa Rosa Beach is by no means new to the area. You have been able to find Grayton beers in Pensacola area stores since 2011, and I actually had my first Grayton beer at the 2012 Emerald Coast Beer Festival.

What you may not know though, is that Grayton started implementing major upgrades early last year, the largest being the construction of a new brewery, which took almost 11 months to complete. Shortly after construction was completed, Grayton started receiving delivery of their new state-of-the-art brewing equipment including nine stainless steel fermentation tanks. Each tank holds as much as 22,000 pints of beer each and, together, give Grayton enough capacity to brew the equivalent of 150,000 bottles of beer at a time.

Grayton Beer Company crews worked around the clock to take delivery of nine fermenting tanks at South Walton's first brewery.

Grayton Beer Company new brewery includes nine stainless steel fermentation tanks.

Founder and President of Grayton Beer Company, Jamey Price, in front of new tanks.

Grayton has wasted no time putting this new brewery to work as it has been brewing and packaging non-stop to launch its new five beer lineup: A mix of Grayton originals along with entirely new offerings, all of which received new, locally inspired, packaging designs.

• Original (Grayton's Flagship beer) - American-style Kölsch

• 1890's Founder's Ale - Amber Ale

• White Dunes - Belgian Witbier

• Pale Ale

• 30A Beach Blonde Ale

All of these local craft brews from Grayton will be available in bottle and draft in restaurants and bars from Pensacola to Apalachicola.

Anyone interested in helping celebrate Grayton's new brewery and beers, you're invited to attend the Grayton Beer Grand Opening this Saturday, March 8th from 1 to 5 pm. Admission is free.

Grand Opening Official Flyer

Event Summary
Event: Grayton Beer Grand Opening
Location: Grayton Beer Brewery: 217 Serenoa Rd, Santa Rosa Beach
When: Saturday, March 8th 1-5 pm
Cost: Free

Funky Skunk Kickstarter Project

We originally wrote about Funky Skunk Brewing, a Pensacola Nano-Brewery in planning, back in January of last year. Shortly afterwards, we got the chance to review one of their planned flagship beers, Devil's Tail Amber Ale, which we found to be a great session ale.

Recently, Funky Skunk Brewing has taken significant steps to making the brewery a reality. The official web page has launched and a Kickstarter project was started late last month.

There are only six days left for Funky Skunk to reach its Kickstarter goal of 20K. Find out more about the brewery at their website, including the planned beer lineup, and make sure to check out the various reward levels on Kickstarter. Help Funky Skunk Brewing come to life.

FBC "Lil Poison Brown Ale" Mardi Gras Release

Fairhope Brewing Company recently released it's occasional beer, Lil Poison Brown Ale, to assist in the Mardi Gras celebrations. Lil Poison is a "musical collaboration" beer with Grayson Capps who serenaded the hops as it was added to the kettle. If you have any doubts about the authenticity of that statement, FBC provided video proof:

Grayson Capps serenading hops at Fairhope Brewing Company

Via Press Release:

Fairhope’s Lil Poison Brown Ale ready for Mardi Gras release

Fairhope Brewing Company, Lower Alabama’s craft brewery, is preparing to release its latest occasional beer, Lil Poison Brown Ale, just in time for Mardi Gras on the Gulf Coast. Brewed in collaboration with popular local musician Grayson Capps, Lil Poison Brown Ale was inspired by Capps’ New Orleans-tinged anthem that encourages listeners to “drink a lil poison before you die.” Capps was on hand earlier this month to help with the brewing, serenading four pounds of Cascade hops as he deposited them into the kettle. “Local beer and local music are a natural combination, kind of like Grayson Capps and Mardi Gras,” said Fairhope Head Brewer Dan Murphy. “If Joe Cain were around today, I like to think Ole Slac would enjoy drinking a Lil Poison while partying down with Grayson and his Lost Cause Minstrels on the Sunday that bears his name.” The rich, malty brown ale, which weighs in at 6.3 percent alcohol by volume (ABV), was officially released Jan. 26 at the Grayson Capps and the Stumpknockers Reunion show at Callaghan’s Irish Social Club in Mobile and will party its way through Fat Tuesday both in the taproom and at Lower Alabama’s finer drinking establishments.

Props Brewery Announces Expansion

Props Brewery & Grill recently posted on Facebook about their plans for expansion:

Props Brewery & Grill is excited to announce that our expansion has begun. Remodeling has started so we can put in more seating area as well as more storage and production area for our beer. Our 3 new fermenters are scheduled to arrive this week. It is only a coincidence that the unit we are moving into is unit B17, the same name of the WWII workhorse called the Flying Fortress.

According to their website, the three fermenters mentioned in the post are three new 15 barrel (bbl) fermenters. They also plan to begin distribution in late Winter / early Spring.

Great news about this local brewery, make sure to check out their website and follow them on Facebook to keep up with their expansion progress.